Omega's Queen and General
by General Herbison
Summary: With the Reapers destroyed and the galaxy rebuilding, two former rivals meet upon their battlefield of Omega. How will time have affected their views of the other?


**Just a little one-shot between two characters that deserve their own little relationship. Yes I have played the Omega missions out with all versions of how it ends but I think that since Oleg is a decent chap and a great military leader he deserved to live through his almost perfect defeat of Aria. I do not own Mass Effect nor its characters but I claim this.**

**Happy Christmas!**

Two years after the destruction of the Reapers the galaxy has recovered from its ordeal. With the relays fully operational a new project has begun. Not one to prevent extinction, but one to be a beacon to the future of total galactic unity.

A space station to replace the Citadel being constructed by members of all races. Krogans, batarians, volus, elcor, quarians, asari, turians, salarians, humans, drell, and even the lone remaining Prothean, Javik.

But while the galaxy enjoyed a strong sense of unity and peace I knew my battle had not ended. Formerly a prisoner of war I had been pardoned due to my assistance in defeating Cerberus and offering expertise on war for the fight with the Reapers.

I, ex-General Oleg Petrovsky, examined my new chessboard and lifted my rook to destroy the enemy's knight.

Currently aboard an Alliance ship I was being taken to a station in the Terminus System that I knew better than most, but not as well as its real owner.

I wasn't sure what had compelled me to make this journey after all this time but I felt that before I was drafted to assist in repairing the state of the military I may as well put this issue behind me.

Doubtless the Alliance had sent word of my impending arrival to the self-proclaimed leader of Omega. While this time I did not have Shepard to ensure a peaceful meeting I knew that my host was capable of controlling herself, sometimes.

The frigate docked and a team of soldiers accompanied me onto the streets of Omega.

It had changed vastly since I was last here. The streets had been cleared of all my energy shields and Cerberus logos, the people walked about freely, and there was a long line in front of the door to Afterlife.

"Come on, let me in." a human protested.

Standing guard at the door a batarian spotted me, and my escort, his eyes narrowed but he waved us forward.

People stared in amazement as I strode past them and entered the colorful tunnel that led to the infamous club. I still proudly wore my uniform so it certainly brought back memories for those who had been here during my reign.

Stepping into the club I smiled briefly at the music and lights, though my eyes skipped over the dozen asari dancers on platforms around the room. Instead they eyes landed on the VIP box where I had once commanded the entire station and stood to defend it against Shepard and… her.

A brief glimpse was all I had before the soldiers ushered me forward. The Alliance had no official jurisdiction here so they were eager to get this over with and get out of here before something went wrong.

As I ascended the stairs to the VIP box I found two more batarians standing guard with drawn weapons. They glared at me but I decided to ignore them, one gets used to it.

Finally my eyes landed on her. The asari that had been my rival during our contest.

Aria T'Lok.

She was currently reading a datapad and didn't even acknowledge my presence, but I clearly noted the tendons in her neck tensing along with a thinning of the mouth.

When at last she set the report aside she took her time in looking at me. Our eyes met at last I was unsurprised to see distrust and a fair amount of loathing in hers.

"Petrovsky." She finally spoke, her voice was neutral.

"Aria." I inclined my head.

Looking like she was regretting it she gestured to the right wing of her couch and I sat down.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, I could tell she was genuinely curious.

"I am here to bring this to an end." I answered.

Despite my cryptic answer I knew she understood. With a jerk of the head her guards left the box.

"We will need some privacy." I glanced at the Alliance soldiers, "Could you please wait outside?"

Despite their reluctance they did as bidden and the door slid shut behind them.

"You're confident I won't snap your neck then." Aria leaned back in her seat, "Why is that?"

"Because I am certain that you have control, that and you have a history regarding powerful adversaries."

She raised an eyebrow, "Meaning?"

"Patriarch. You defeated him yet let him live to show as an example to any possible threat."

Aria turned to look at me, "I fail to see why you wanted to talk. We were never friends, we certainly didn't respect the other, the only thing we have is a brief history."

"A history which made you feel alive." I added.

Her mouth froze and her eyes widened slightly.

"I know, Aria. I know. You felt so alive during our battle. Infiltrating my fleet and then sneaking aboard the station, fighting off hundreds of enemies and monsters, you even found friendship in the leader of the Talons. Perhaps more than friendship."

I knew that last part would get a response and it did indeed. Biotics coated her form and she dived at me. Thankfully I caught her wrists as her hands reached for my throat and held her back.

"Don't you dare mention her." She snarled, "It was because of you that she died."

We remained in that position for a moment or two before she relented and sat back down while I discreetly wiped sweat from my brow.

"Yes, I admit it was exhilarating to retake Omega." She sounded like she was forcing herself to speak, "You brought me a challenge to test myself and make myself better. Nothing more."

"Yet even when your friend died and you had me at your mercy, you spared me." I stroked my beard, "Why?"

She rolled her eyes, "Shepard's constant nice attitude rubbed off on me. I knew you had information that could be of use so I let you live for that reason only."

"Now?" I spread my arms, "Now the war is over and I am sitting before you completely vulnerable. You could finish what you started."

It was clear from her clenched fists that the offer was tempting, but the moment passed and for a brief fraction of a second she looked utterly alone.

"No. Killing you won't achieve anything." She sighed, "Tell me though, if I had lost, would you have killed me?"

The answer was obvious but I said it anyway, "No. I spared your life once; I wouldn't abuse that act of mercy by killing you after you surrendered."

She actually seemed to relax a bit, "I suppose I can't really blame you for her death, well, not directly at least. The adjutants that you couldn't control got loose and she went to stop them."

"I know." My face fell slightly, "Abominations, the lot of them. They killed plenty of my men."

Silence descended on us and I found myself searching for a new subject.

"I may never trust you, Oleg. But I can respect you." She admitted, "Though from one leader to another you did have several obvious flaws in your strategy."

My eyebrows rose slightly, "I did? If I recall I had set a perfect trap, until you experimented with biotics to escape."

"Your people were not prepared to face a horde of Omega's people. Apart from the containment fields you had nothing to keep the population trapped. When the fields went down your troops had nothing to stop them."

I inclined my head to admit the point, "However you were too obvious in your strategy, not to mention you openly told me where your secret bunker was."

"True." She admitted, "But you didn't count on Shepard assisting me."

"The Commander was indeed a powerful piece on your field. But you are lucky Shepard was with you." I stood and looked down at the central column, "You ran straight for me and into the trap."

Aria rose and stood beside me as we looked out at the club together, "That experience taught me to control myself. To not give in to emotions."

"A little harsh." I looked at her, "Your emotions give you strength. Your ability for anger, fear, and love."

Aria stared at me quizzically, "You keep bringing that up. Why did you really come here Oleg?"

Yet again I noticed the first name use and found myself taking slightly deeper breaths, "There is a reason I let you go, a reason why I repeatedly asked you to surrender, a reason why I didn't want to deploy the mechs on you at the reactors, and a reason why when you were bound in the centre of this room that I didn't just finish you off."

Dawning realization was etched into her face and her eyes widened.

"The reason is that, astounding as it may sound," I broke off as the Alliance soldiers entered.

"Your time is up." One of them announced, "We must escort you back to the ship. Now."

Swallowing and maintaining an expression of indifference I nodded to them, "Very well."

When I turned back to Aria she was still looking utterly stunned, "Goodbye Aria. I hope this will not be the last time we meet."

I could see the mask slid back into place behind her eyes and she turned away from me, "If you're done, get out. It was hard to remove the stench the first time."

The soldiers flanked me as I descended the steps into the club. But as we reached the doors I looked back to see her standing tall and proud over her domain and her eyes locked with mine as silent words were exchanged that I would hold until we did meet again.

"Everything alright?" one of my escorts asked as the doors closed behind us.

"It is now." I allowed myself a smile as we emerged from the club, across from the docking bay, with the line still being denied access.

"Come on let me in."

**So what did you think? Good or bad? Should I do another chapter and continue their relationship? Please review**


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